Death in Buenos Aires is an unexpected delight : a queer thriller with a rather odd plot and quirky nature but one has a total charm that entertains you to the final credits.
Set in Argentina in 1989 its the story of shabbily dressed tough guy Police Inspector Chávez (Demián Bichir) who whilst investigating his latest murder finds finds himself with an unexpected desire for Gómez (Chino Darín) a young and handsome rookie on the police force
The pair first meet when Chávez is summoned to a rather grand apartment where Gomez is on duty guarding the dead body he had discovered. Chávez is accompanied by his rather tarty dressed assistant Dolores (Mónica Antonópulos) who could be easily mistaken for some girl he had picked up working the streets.
It turns out that the victim is both gay and rich and also the member of a very important local family. His relatives are soon in the chief of police’s office the very next day waving wads of money insisting that the case is solved very quickly and very discreetly. The latter is assumed because the dead man was gay, but it actually turns out that is not the reason at all.
The only clue Chávez that has is that the dead man had been ‘dating’ Kevin (Max Diorio) the singing star of an infamous gay bar . When Chávez goes to the bar to check things out, he runs into an eager Gomez who says he is desperate to help. So next day Chávez dresses the young man up in smart new clothes and takes him to a restaurant where Kevin is, and tells Gomez to flirt with him so he will get picked up.
There has already been more than the odd side glance between Chávez, a happily married husband and father, and Gomez engaged to get married in a week of so, but it’s difficult for them (and us) to work out what these means and what it could lead too. As Gomez gets closer to Kevin all in the name of duty (!) the Inspector actually gets jealous and so insists on arresting Kevin him charging him with murder.
But both men have got the wrong man and this where Natalia Meta ,making her directing debut, allows her imagination to take flight.
For a low budget film it is beautifully shot with Buenos Aires as perfect backdrop. It is however the performance of Bichir who had been nominated for an Oscar for A Better Life a couple of years previously that is the real highlight of the whole film. His portrayal as the gruff cop who may be regretting some of his life choices, and up until then had never failed to catch his man, is a joy to watch unfold. Plus Darín as Gomez is hardly tough on the eyes to watch.
Death is Buenos Aires is one of those indie films that take very little effort to watch, but you do get a lot back in return anyway.
P.S. Available to stream Amazon Prime, You Tube, Google Plus etc.
